Our Souls Are Filled With RED!!!

By Admin Callie

PETALING JAYA: Saturday, April 14 2012 was another memorable day for SoulMates as M.E. Malaysia alongside with Natural Sound brought this 5-member acapella group, RED SOUL for their second showcase in Wisma Bentley Music. The second showcase of ‘Red Soul First Live in Malaysia’ was held in Bentley Music Showroom at 12pm.

From left to right: Kang In Chang, Jun Tae Ik, Hwang Tae Ik, Kim Ki Hyun and Lee Hanul Yi

RED SOUL (레드소울), a 5-member acapella group comprises of Kang In Chang, Jun Tae Ik, Hwang Tae Ik, Kim Ki Hyun and Lee Hanul Yi.  They have been active for the past 6 years in various music festivals and competitions in Korea. They won Korea’s Acapella Competition in 2007 and gained mass appeal after being featured twice in Korea’s famous variety show Star King which immediately propel the, to massive popularity. They mainly perform for niche classier clients in Korea due to their genre and have strong viral based international fans RED SOUL is well known for their eclectic and fresh acapella uptake on famous contemporary music. They aim to redefine ‘acapella’ and to create a memorable memory for everyone via their performances.

This free showcase at Bentley Music showroom attracted over 100 fans waiting patiently for the boys to come to the stage.  Shortly, the five boys emerged on stage and fans were cheering loudly while the boys were doing the sound check on stage. This truly showed that the boys were doing live acapella and not a pre-recording. While checking the sound, the boys did not forget to hype up the atmosphere by doing ‘uh-huh uh-huh’ sound and funny faces which drove the crowd to laugh in happiness.

They started the show by introducing themselves in Malays and later on serenade the fans with the first song, So Sick. The great harmony from the boys made the crowd to sing along with them. The boys later on introduced their first album, 있어줘 (Stay) which many of the fans already owned a copy.

Members of RED SOUL introduced Kang In Chang as the human drum. He did not disappoint the crowd by showing his beat-boxing skills and later the rest of the members joined in to create a perfect harmony. Those who present were totally amazed by their talents.

RED SOUL was amazed that the fans understood what they said without the need of a translator.  Out of curiosity, Jun Tae Ik asked “Are you Korean? Then I am Malaysian!”. The five boys were also requested to do ‘aegyo’ (acting cute in Korean) by the fans. Having no other choices, the five boys showed their aegyo one by one. Most of them did ‘puing puing’ pose and this definitely caused the crowd to go crazy. Members of RED SOUL even acknowledged that Jun Tae Ik aegyo everyday and called him ‘Aegyo Man’.

When asked by Kim Ki Hyun on the most handsome member, Lee Hanul Yi got the most cheers. This caused the rest of the members jokingly said that they were going to leave. RED SOUL also performed a medley of 2011 hit songs which includes 2PM’s Hands Up, LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem, 2NE1’s I’m The Best, GD & TOP’s Having An Affair, SNSD’s The Boys and IU’s Good Day. The five boys certainly know how to drive the crowd crazy. The crowd could not take their eyes off the boys for even a second.

They sang a total of six songs. While singing their last song Ting, Lee Hanul Yi and Kim Ki Hyun never forget to do some fans service to their supportive fans. The crowd were screaming their lungs out when both Hanul Yi and Ki Hyun jumped off from the stage, hold a fan girl’s hand and serenaded her with their lovely voice. Hanul yi even gave the fan girl a kiss on her hand before finishing the song. How lucky the fan was!!

Kim Ki Hyun and Lee Hanul Yi getting ready to give the bear to fans!

The crowd immediately chanted for encore when they boys left the stage. The boys just couldn’t disappoint the fans and went back to the stage and sang I’ll Make Love to You. To repay the supportive fans, Hanul Yi and Ki Hyun gave teddy bears to two lucky girls. The boys finally left the stage and prepared for the next autograph session.

Autograph Session

All the fans with RED SOUL first album, 있어줘 (Stay) get to have all the boys’ signatures. The boys even have ‘skinship’ with the fans while signing on the albums. The boys did not reject any requests from the fans such as handshakes, photos, aegyo and even hugs. Upon finishing the session, the boys posed together for the last time before leaving the venue. Numerous clicking sounds of camera were heard as fans wouldn’t want to miss the chance to capture the pretty faces of RED SOUL. They then said goodbye and left the venue.

Victory pose by RED SOUL

Overall, the showcase is a huge success. RED SOUL tried as much as they can to interact with the fans using English to minimize the distance from Malaysia fans. Even though the stage is quite small, they definitely brought out the theme, ‘Intimate’ and got closer to the fans. Last but not least, they promise that they will definitely come back to Malaysia next time.

The event is organized by M.E Malaysia together with Natural Sound as Artiste's Management. It is supported by Fullhouse Sunway Giza (Official Lifestyle Restaurant) with special thanks to Bentley Music and Gokpop.com.

K-Gen is a non-profit club set up in Taylors University, Lakeside Campus, aiming at providing a platform for youths in Malaysia to gather and share their interest in Korean culture and entertainment. They can be contacted through Facebook at K- Generation @Taylor’s University, or email kgen.tlc@gmail.com. 2 members of K-Gen were sponsored by M.E. Malaysia to attend the showcase.